This Week on The Challenge

Another very solid episode of The Challenge. Those 60 minutes absolutely flew by. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw "To Be Continued..." rear its ugly head (Really MTV, you're gonna do me like that? Two weeks in a row?). Although in retrospect, that's the least surprising thing ever. Next week will be the final elimination/the start of the finale, followed up by a final, dramatic episode.

First Things First: Hurricane Nia Wraps Up

Yes, I used this picture last week, but it's too awesome to pass up.  I don't want to break down Nia's tirade again, but long story short - she yelled a lot.  And then she went person to person in the house and apologized. Preposterous. But let's get to the real action.

Wes the Snake vs Leroy the Athlete

I was hoping the producers would throw Wes/Theresa a bone and give them an endurance/puzzle elimination. But alas - they selected "Hall Brawl" aka Wes's worst nightmare.  This is once again a repeat elimination that comes up every year.  It's basically a modified Oklahoma drill where each person gets a running start.

This is not the first time Wes has been thrown this challenge.  In Battle of the Seasons he was matched up against Big E... and got slaughtered (it's worth the watch).

Eric, literally picked Wes up, ran him back to his own base, and slammed him into the bell.

So Wes tried a different strategy this time.  He literally laid on the ground and let Leroy pass over him.  It was pathetic. He pretended to get hurt, and lost anyways. Just terrible, terrible performance from Wes.  (Also, kudos to the producers for dicking him over like this).

"This is my wet dream" - Bananas

Anyways - as you may have expected, Leroy and Nia romped in the park and emerged victorious.

Fast forward to the final challenge, which is not to be confused with THE FINAL. Very confusing.

First nighttime challenge ever - climbing down five ropes from a massive skyscraper. Very intense, very scary.  The team that together makes it the farthest wins; the team that as a team make it the least far loses.

Leading into this I thought, "Damn, Jordan is going to get screwed" (one hand makes any gripping challenges hard).  I'm going to cut to the chase here - he rocked (2nd best Guy), Sarah killed it (Best Girl) and they won.  Nia (4th girl) and Leroy (Best guy) got sent in the dome.  Which is terrible for Leroy.  He was by far the best performer in this challenge. What followed next surprised everyone.

 

 

Go Big or Go Home

Sarah sent in Banany to face off with Leroy/Nia.  Note that I said Sarah - this is not a mistake.  TJ made them pick someone immediately, and Sarah chose Banany (Jordan wanted Jay/Jenna).

Two things:

1)  This is clearly the right move, and possibly the biggest power move in recent memory

2)  Is this to prevent backroom monetary collusion (where Banany would have offered x percent of their winnings to Sarah/Jordan)?

Anyways, Bananas was outraged, and everyone else was flat out shocked... (right move though, more power to you Sarah).

THE FINAL preview

This tees us up for tonight's final episode.  We'll start off with Nia/Leroy vs Banany in the final elimination.  I predict a non-physical challenge (after last week's Hall Brawl), which favors Banany.  This would set up a Banany, Sarah/Jordan, Jay/Jenna FINAL.  Here's how I would handicap it.

Banany - 1:1 (They will be angry, and I think Nany is in MUCH better cardio shape then Sarah)

Sarah/Jordan - 2:1 (Their biggest hope will be that there are a lot of puzzles, Nany loses it, or Sarah miraculously got in shape since the mountain climb challenge)

Jay/Jenna - 1,000:1 (Possibly the weakest contestants to ever make a final)